families together, christingle and thanks from nepal

Dear Christ Church,

Jo Gavin would like to remind you about our Families Together morning on 12th December 9.30-12.30pm (including a dress rehearsal) and Christingle Service on 13th December 4-5pm with mince pies and refreshments afterwards. It would be lovely to see you there. Please invite family and friends to come and share in these wonderful events and support all our children as they share the birth of Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas which is celebrated around the world.

At Families Together we will have a fantastic morning as well as breakfast and Christmas crafts; children will have the opportunity to have their photo taken in costume as part of a Nativity scene and make a photo frame for their special picture. Also, if they like dressing up, we would encourage them to come to the Christingle in a nativity costume and they can join the Climbers, Explorers and The Highway Choir on the platform at the end of the presentation.

and Jay has received the following from David Bloomfield, Tearfund Church Partnership Manager:

Dear everyone at Christ Church,

Time can move quickly can’t it? It’s just over 6 months to the day since a massive earthquake hit Nepal. The earthquake claimed the lives of almost 9,000 people; it destroyed homes, livelihoods and schools. In a few moments a nation was changed.

The TV cameras came – and went! But not the local church that Tearfund has been able to draw alongside and support in rebuilding the country, thanks to the generosity of congregations like yours. So what has been achieved in the last six months?

Behind the statistics are individual stories. Here’s just one. Surya and Kanchi have four children. They’re subsistence farmers, living in the foothills of the Himalayas. The earthquake destroyed everything they had - their home and their land.

Tearfund and its partners have however been able to step in - initially providing emergency accommodation and supplies. Together we were able to provide them with all the equipment needed to make safe shelter, keeping them dry in the monsoon rains.

But that shelter, made from iron sheeting, won’t last forever. That’s why attention is now changing and we’re starting to teach local masons how to build homes that are much more resistant to earthquakes.

The generosity of your church and others, as it stands with the church in Nepal, makes this and tens of thousands of other stories possible. On behalf of all at Tearfund, our partners and those we serve, thank you. Oh and here’s a little film of some of those we serve saying thank you themselves.